If everyone's afraid of taxes, where does that leave us?

This column is about the dreaded “T” word. Not Trump. Not tea, as in Tea Party, but taxes. It’s a word that politicians utter only when they pledge not to raise them. In today’s political climate, no politician can win re-election if he or she dares to support a tax increase.

It wasn’t that long ago when taxes wasn’t a dirty word. Once upon a time, elected officials had the courage to raise taxes to pay for the programs the public needed or demanded. They were willing to make hard choices, and were never fearful about the consequences.

Today in Washington, the vast majority of the Republicans in the House of Representatives have signed a pledge not to support any tax increase. At the same time, they are asking the federal government to pay for special programs in their districts and are opposed to any effort to tax people making over $1 million a year.

In the next two weeks, Congress will be voting to again extend the country’s debt limit so that the government can keep operating. Extending the debt limit doesn’t mean spending more money. It means paying all the bills that are owed, which includes salary owed to our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

So at this point, not only is Congress unable to pass any new taxes to support the operations of the federal government, but it appears likely that a vocal House minority may push the country back to the brink of default. The solution offered by some of the more conservative House members is simple. Keep cutting the federal budget until you make up for all the expenses.

While Washington is gridlocked over new taxes, which means new revenues, in New York state the picture isn’t much different. Governor Cuomo has pledged to do away with the so-called millionaire’s tax, which expires at the end of the year. The leaders of the two houses of the State Legislature are divided on the issue. That leaves the state with a $750 million hole in its budget.

Nassau County Executive Mangano has pledged not to raise any new taxes, and the next Suffolk County executive will have little or no support for new taxes, even though there will be an enormous deficit in 2012. The Nassau budget crisis will be solved by layoffs and eliminating services, and no doubt Suffolk will do the same.